Tag: greece

Greece Declares “National Emergency” and begins mass deportations amid influx of illegal immigrants to Crete; over 7,000 detained this week.

Greece has taken a decisive step in response to the immigration crisis by declaring a “National Emergency” and ordering mass deportations of illegal immigrants following an alarming surge in arrivals to the island of Crete.

The Prime Minister announced that Greece would suspend asylum processing for immigrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months.

According to reports, more than 7,000 people have been detained this week in what the Greek government has described as an invasion threatening national security.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday that Greece will suspend for three months the processing of asylum applications for immigrants arriving by sea from North Africa. The new measures will be put to a vote in Parliament on Thursday as an urgent amendment.

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Greece Declares Migrant Crisis an ‘Invasion’ — Suspends Asylum Claims and Detains All New Arrivals

Some parts of Europe are finally waking up to the migrant invasion of their countries.

According to the BBC, Greece has begun detaining male migrants arriving from Libya and is no longer processing their asylum claims.

Meanwhile, the government has declared a state of emergency and announced new measures to stop what describes an “invasion” of their southern border.

The Greek island of Crete has become a key entry point to Europe after a 2023 Italy–Libya returns deal redirected trafficking routes away from southern Italy.

Roughly 10,000 migrants arrived on Crete earlier this week, most of them men from North Africa, overwhelming local services and costing taxpayers huge sums of money.

The BBC report provides more details:

In the centre of a sweltering, cavernous hall, rows of men sit in silence with nothing to occupy them but the wait. Signs from an old tourist fair propped up behind them urge visitors to “Explore the Beauty of Nature” with illustrations of coves and beaches in Crete.

But those held in the former Ayia exhibition centre did not come to the Greek island as holidaymakers. They are migrants who risked a journey across the sea from Libya to Europe’s southern tip and were then detained and denied the right to apply for asylum.

From Crete, they are now being moved to closed facilities on the mainland. The right for anyone to request protection, or asylum, is inscribed in EU and international law and in the constitution of Greece itself.

But in a move implemented in haste earlier this month and criticised by human rights lawyers, the government has over-ridden that principle for the next three months at least.

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Greeks Grow Unfriendly To Israeli Tourists, Ships As Gaza War Grinds On

Though Greece is a highly popular international tourist destination for Israelis, the popularity of Israeli tourists is declining in Greece as Israel continues a war on Gaza marked by unusually high civilian casualties, imposed hunger, and the systematic and sweeping destruction of infrastructure. In addition to a string of incidents in which Greeks are verbally and physically clashing with Israeli tourists, protesters are targeting commercial ships seen as supplying Israel’s war on Gaza.     

The most widespread indication of Greeks giving Israelis a cold shoulder comes via signs and posters cropping up in tourist destinations. In addition to being mounted on utility poles, they’re also appearing in the front windows of some businesses. A few samples of the messaging: 

  • “All Israeli soldiers are war criminals. Occupiers, rapists, murderers. We don’t want you here!” 
  • “Israeli soldiers, you went on vacation but you will not escape the guilt. The beaches of Greece will not wash the blood off your hands”
  • “Israeli soldiers, colonizers, you are not welcome.”

Where personal confrontations are concerned, it’s not always clear who’s been initiating the hostilities. In the latest incident, a group of around 20 Israeli teenagers clashed with 10 to 30 Greeks on the popular island of Rhodes around 3 or 4 am on Tuesday. According to the Israelis’ accounts published in Hebrew media and shared on social media, anti-Israel demonstrators gathered outside a club the Israelis were patronizing. When the Israelis decided to leave the club, a Greek pretending to support Israel asked if they were Israelis. When they confirmed they were, the Greek summoned dozens of comrades who chased them down, kicking one of them. “I’ve never been so afraid in my life. We just wanted to go to a club to have fun, and suddenly people with knives were chasing us,” said a teen named Friedman. 

However, Greek newspaper Dimokratiki provides a far different account. Citing witness statements, video footage and other information, the paper reports that Hellenic Police say the fracas began when the Israelis started shouting pro-Israel slogans, which led to the Greeks calling them “murderers” and countering with pro-Palestinian chants. Police identified nine Israelis who were involved, and all of them were said to have departed by plane later the same morning. Authorities gave no confirmation of any assaults taking place. 

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EU hits Greece with record fine over farmers subsidy fraud

The European Union has imposed a 392.2 million-euro ($451.9 million) fine on Greece over a major scandal involving the mismanagement of agricultural subsidies by a government agency between 2016 and 2022.

The bloc’s Executive Commission decided to reduce the subsidies Greece will receive in the next years by 5%, it said on Friday, reflecting the view that there has been no proper supervision and operation of the subsidy management model for years.

Greece expected to receive about 1.9 billion euros in direct EU subsidies next year.

The fine comes months after European prosecutors charged dozens of Greek livestock farmers who received EU financial aid through the Greek government paying agency OPEKEPE with making false declarations of ownership or leasing of pastureland.

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Mysterious 4,000-year-old round stone building on Crete hilltop threatens to disrupt the island’s major airport project

A mysterious 4,000-year-old hilltop structure on the Greek island of Crete has threatened to disrupt plans for a major new airport project on the island. 

Resembling a huge car wheel from above, the ruins of the labyrinthine, 19,000-square-foot building came to light during a recent dig by archaeologists.

Experts believe the ‘unique and extremely interesting find’ was built by Crete’s ancient Minoan civilisation, famous for its sumptuous palaces, flamboyant art and enigmatic writing system.

But the site was earmarked for a radar station to serve a new airport under construction near the town of Kastelli.

Set to open in 2027, it is projected to replace Greece‘s second-biggest airport at Heraklion, and designed to handle up to 18 million travellers annually. 

But Greece’s culture minister Lina Mendoni, an archaeologist, pledged that the find would be preserved while a different location would be sought for the radar station.

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Discoveries at Mt Ellanio Reveal Mycenean Refuge from the Bronze Age Collapse

An interdisciplinary team of archaeologists has been investigating the tallest mountain on the Greek island of Aegina since 2021: Mount Ellanio. Overlooking the Saronic Gulf, the peak holds the remnants of a 4th century Temple of Zeus Hellanios.

The mission, a Greek-Swiss partnership (EFAPN), is investigating the mountain’s prehistoric occupation, and have found a building measuring 4.5 by 3 meters (15 by 10 feet), containing an assortment of 30 ceramic vessels. What makes the building so special is that it is Mycenean.

Zeus on Ellanio: A Sanctuary and Safe Haven

The presence of Zeus worship on Mount Ellanio is documented in ancient texts like those of Pausanias. A chapel now stands atop these ancient foundations, but Corinthian clay tiles suggest an earlier structure beneath, likely a small temple.

North of the chapel, sacrificial remnants in a black layer, along with countless charred animal bone fragments, unveil ancient rituals. The discovery of pottery spanning from the Geometric era to Roman times also underscore the sacred site’s continuity.

An analysis of the vessels’ form and style helps trace their origins to the twilight and dying embers of the Mycenaean palatial era (the Late Bronze Age in Greece). This was a tumultuous epoch characterized by upheaval and disintegration of much of the ancient world, spanning the years from 1200 to 1050 BC, according to a press release by the Greek Ministry of Culture.

In the wake of this upheaval, mainland Greece witnessed a mass exodus, as waves of Mycenaean refugees sought solace in faraway lands, including Cyprus, the Levant, and neighboring Aegean islands. It was the end of Bronze Age Greece, and led to a Greek Dark Age lasting hundreds of years.

Aegina emerged as a sanctuary of respite amongst its mountainous contours, with survivors of the chaos seeking refuge amidst the sacred peaks. The fortified enclosure, consisting of retaining walls, ancient towers, and rock inscriptions, along with the dwellings at the summit, indicate the use of the hill as this refuge.

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DNA and Developmental Damage from Cell Towers on the Greek Island of Samos: Effects on Insects, Flowers and Vegetables

A recent paper, ‘Human‑made electromagnetic fields: Ion forced‑oscillation and voltage‑gated ion channel dysfunction, oxidative stress and DNA damage (Review) published in the International Journal of Oncology by biophysicist Dimitris J. Panagopoulos et. al. states unequivocally that electromagnetic radiation from wireless technology damages DNA. This leads to infertility, sterility, mutations and extinctions, and it explains the loss of biodiversity that we are currently experiencing on this planet.

DNA damage from wireless radiation is not a new discovery. It has been confirmed over and over by numerous scientists using a variety of experimental subjects and frequencies. But do observations in the laboratory translate into the same effects in the real world? If these scientists are correct, they must do. In the real-world things might be a lot worse, because in the real world we are not exposed to a single frequency or bandwidth but to a whole soup of them, from multiple sources. In the real world, exposure time is not limited to a few minutes or hours per day or week; the cell towers are on day and night. DNA damage from wireless radiation is not a laboratory phenomenon; it is real. We are losing the insects—among them, the pollinators. We are losing the birds. Animals are dying out. We are wiping ourselves out.

The damage to DNA, says Panagopoulos, is being done by the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) components of the wavebands used in wireless communications. For decades, regulatory bodies such as ICNIRP, SCENIHR (EU), the FCC (USA) and others have insisted that the only way wireless technology can cause damage is by heating tissue, and that the power levels which are allowed protect us from being harmed. This is not true for human beings, and these regulatory bodies have never even considered nature.

Is DNA damage from wireless radiation visible? There have probably been DNA-damaged plants, insects, birds, animals, and people since the first generation of cell towers was erected, but would we recognize what we are seeing? A 2003 study 2 performed by a pair of scientists from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, studied the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields on mice exposed at various sites around an antenna park. The newborn mice weighed more than normal newborn mice, and they all had extra vertebrae in the posterior sections of their spines, making them longer than normal mice. This is DNA damage. The mother mice, the dams, produced fewer—and bigger—babies with each litter, and after six months they became irreversibly sterile. This is also DNA damage.

A mouse runs by in a field; would you know that its spine is ever so slightly longer than it should be? I wouldn’t. Would you recognize that a great tit’s eggs are ever so slightly bigger than they ought to be? I wouldn’t. A study of great tits 3 found that birds which made nests near power lines laid bigger eggs with a higher volume of yolk and albumen. That too is DNA damage, and this damaged DNA will be passed on. unless the bird becomes sterile as did the mice in the antenna park study described above.

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When Zelensky Brought a Nazi to the Greek Parliament

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been making a virtual world tour with video hookups to parliaments around the globe, as well as to the Grammy Awards and the U.N. Security Council, sometimes with troublesome results.  

On April 7, 2022 a major row erupted when Zelensky brought along a Ukrainian soldier of Greek heritage from the city of Mariupol, who just happened to be a member of the neo-Nazi Azov Regiment. Greece was under Nazi occupation during World War II and fought a bitter partisan war against Nazism (later to be betrayed by Britain and the United States.)   

With Zelensky in the screen, the man, who gave only his first name, told Parliament: “I speak to you as a man of Greek descent. My name is Michail. My grandfather fought against the Nazis in the Second World War. I am born in Mariupol and I am now also fighting to defend my city from the Russian nazis.”

Alexis Tsipras, leader of the main opposition party, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, blasted the appearance of the Azov fighter before parliament.  

“Solidarity with the Ukrainian people is a given. But nazis cannot be allowed to speak in parliament,” Tsipras said on social media. “The speech was a provocation.”  He said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “bears full responsibility. … He talked about a historic day but it is a historical shame.”  

Former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras called the video being played in parliament a “big mistake”.

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Kotzias said: “The Greek government irresponsibly undermined the struggle of the Ukrainian people, by giving the floor to a Nazi. The responsibilities are heavy. The government should publish a detailed report of preparation and contacts for the event.”

Former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’  MeRA25 party said the event turned into a “Nazi fiesta.”

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Majority in fires in Greece were started by ‘human hand’, official says

The majority of the fires which have ravaged Greece in recent weeks were started by “human hand”, one of the country’s top climate officials has said.

Greece’s climate change minister said 667 fires had erupted, as wildfires scorched hundreds of square miles of land outside Athens, on the island of Rhodes, and elsewhere this month.

Vassilis Kikilias told a news conference the vast majority of fires “were caused by human hands” and said they were “arsons either by criminal negligence or by intention”.

It comes as at least nine countries across the Mediterranean have been hit by wildfires, as extreme heat hitting the region has seen temperatures top 40C.

However, officials have also highlighted the role of climate change in the recent extreme heat across many European countries.

Mr Kikilias warned earlier that the climate crisis “brought us this unprecedented heatwave”.

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Newly discovered stone tools drag dawn of Greek archaeology back by a quarter-million years

Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country’s oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans’ hominin ancestors.

The find announced Thursday would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.

The Greek site was one of five investigated in the Megalopolis area during a five-year project involving an international team of experts, a Culture Ministry statement said.

It was found to contain rough stone tools from the Lower Palaeolithic period — about 3.3 million to 300,000 years ago — and the remains of an extinct species of giant deer, elephants, hippopotamus, rhinoceros and a macaque monkey.

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